Taiwan should make itself “indispensable” for the global economy and refrain from provoking China, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas Friedman told a business forum in Taipei yesterday.
Friedman, who writes opinion articles about foreign affairs, globalization and technology for the New York Times, was commenting on Taiwan-US-China relations at a forum held by Taiwan-based Global Views monthly, in a pre-recorded video.
“If I were president for a day of Taiwan, I would be focusing on building and reinforcing my strengths,” Friedman said.
Photo: Reuters
“Taiwan is the single greatest chipmaking country in the world, thanks to TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co]. And I would be looking for areas where I can reinforce my global leadership to make myself indispensable for the global economy,” which would make China less likely to attack Taiwan, he said.
“Every day that Taiwan remains a thriving economy, and independent, for me, is a good day,” Friedman said.
However, Taiwan should refrain from provoking Chinese leaders or altering the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, he said.
Referring to China as a “bear,” Friedman said Taiwan should not be “looking to poke the bear … because you never know when the bear is just going to swipe you with its paw.”
Instead, Taiwan should “stay low-key” and “be quiet” while continuing to arm itself, Friedman said.
“You [Taiwan] are small, and your neighbor is very big. The history and the future is on your side. The only thing that can interrupt it is if this very, you know, big neighbor, decides for its own internal reasons to do so,” he said.
Speaking on the US-China relationship, Friedman called on Washington to “always seek to build bridges where possible and draw red lines when necessary” amid the lack of trust that exists between the two biggest economies in the world.
Friedman said the US and China had built close relations for three decades since the two established diplomatic ties in 1979, until the relationship started unraveling about five years ago.
US companies had lobbied for stable relations between Washington and Beijing because they believed there were opportunities in China, Friedman said.
However, US businesses increasingly felt they were not really benefiting from those opportunities, as they faced continued theft of intellectual property and China breached international trade rules, he said.
“Economically, what was a win-win relationship for American businesses in China stopped being so win-win,” Friedman said.
China, under the leadership of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), has changed tremendously, as Xi sought to fight corruption for the purpose of retaining control and asserting authority, he said.
“China today is so much more open than it was 40 years ago, when I first visited it, but it’s so much more closed than it was 10 years ago,” he said, urging the US and China to look for ways to build trust.
SELF-RELIANCE: Taiwan would struggle to receive aid in the event of an invasion, so it must prepare to ‘hold its own’ for the first 70 days of a war, a defense expert said Taiwan should strengthen infrastructure, stock up on reserves and step up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to fight against an enemy, legislators and experts said on Tuesday last week. The comments sought to summarize what the nation should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exceeded 300 days, since Feb. 24 last year. Institute of National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of being ready for war. Taiwan’s development of an “asymmetrical warfare” doctrine and extending mandatory conscription to one year is a good start to preparation of defense against a
The Tourism Bureau plans to offer incentives to attract international tourists as the nation plans to gradually lift all travel restrictions to contain COVID-19, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday. The incentives would be funded by surplus national tax revenue from last year, Wang said. The funding could be appropriated after the legislature passes draft special statutes governing the use of the surplus tax revenue in the upcoming legislative session, he said. Of the NT$450 billion (US$14.97 billion) in surplus tax revenue, the government plans to spend NT$100 billion on seven categories of projects to bolster Taiwan’s
The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
Retired US admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned of a potential Chinese conflict with Taiwan by 2027, is in Taiwan to discuss regional security-related issues. He was the head of the US Indo-Pacific Command at the time. Davidson is part of a six-member delegation from US-based think tank the National Bureau of Asian Research that arrived in Taiwan on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. The group is scheduled to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), and visit two government-funded non-governmental organizations — the Institute for National Defense and Security Research and Taiwan Foundation for Democracy — to exchange